Washington Wizards

Maybe people here really believed Michael Jordan when he retired last January and told the world he was looking forward to car-pooling his kids to school. While the rest of the world was saying "Yeah, right!" folks here seemed to think they and they alone would have their beloved Michael forever. "See, he loves us as much as we love him," Chicagoans sighed, maybe thinking Jordan would repair to his Highland Park estate, content to clip coupons, shine his earring, and wax his lovely head as the years slipped away.

Michael Jordan is back. Again. Three years after winning his sixth NBA championship and vowing there was a 99.9 percent chance he would never play professional basketball again, Jordan revealed one of the worst-kept secrets in sports yesterday. He officially announced that he will return to a game he dominated for a decade. The announcement was made without the euphoria and hype associated with his first return from retirement in 1995. Jordan said in a news release that he would return as a player for the Washington Wizards.

There won't be an empty seat available at Madison Square Garden tonight. Security will be out in full force. Scalpers have asked for thousands, and fans with tickets won't sell theirs for thousands. All because Michael Jordan has returned. Again. The same Michael Jordan who spent 14 seasons establishing himself as the preeminent offensive force in the NBA is coming back after a three-year hiatus, bigger and stronger and just as hungry as ever. Jordan weighs about 218 pounds.

Who: Sixers (3-10) at Washington Wizards (4-8) When: 7 o'clock Where: Verizon Center TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/WIP (610-AM)

Celts' home jinx Having won the first two, the Boston Celtics are back home to play the Orlando Magic for Game 3 on Saturday, but that's not necessarily a good thing. The Celtics were one of only two NBA teams with a better record on the road than at home this season. 'Overzealous' staffer There it was on Facebook for all to see: the Washington Wizards telling the world they will draft John Wall with the No. 1 pick. Myron Goodman made the posting Friday on a Facebook page for University of Kentucky alumni.

In danger of missing the playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years and struggling at 13-19, the Washington Wizards fired coach Bernie Bickerstaff yesterday and replaced him on an interim basis with assistant Jim Brovelli. General manager Wes Unseld said he would start contacting coaching candidates immediately, although he did not rule out Brovelli as a long-term solution. Bickerstaff's dismissal is the NBA's fourth coaching change this season, following Del Harris (Lakers), Dave Cowens (Charlotte)

Raja Bell of the 76ers was named the most valuable player of the Shaw's Pro Summer League in Boston yesterday. Playing with a Sixers team made up of rookies, free agents and reserves, Bell led the one-week league in scoring, with an average of 21.7 points per game over six games. He also had 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Bell, a guard, and Sixers forward Jumaine Jones were named to the all-league team, along with Dion Glover of the Atlanta Hawks, Kwame Brown of the Washington Wizards, and Joe Johnston of the Boston Celtics.

CARMELO ANTHONY scored 19 points, Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 12 rebounds and the visiting New York Knicks defeated the Orlando Magic, 96-80, on Thursday night. J.R. Smith and Toney Douglas each added 15 points for the Knicks, who won for just the third time in their last 13 visits to Orlando. New York also hit 13 three-pointers. Jason Richardson scored 16 points and Glen Davis 15 to lead Orlando. The Magic's loss came on the heels of coach Stan Van Gundy's comments earlier in the day that included him saying he'd heard from top team officials that Dwight Howard has asked that he be fired.

When the 76ers take the floor against the Washington Wizards on Friday, they won't see a team that often has the word 'lowly' attached to its name. They won't see a team that they have beaten five times in a row, three times this season by an average of more than 21 points. What they will see, if we are to believe Sixers coach Doug Collins and his players, is a potential booby trap, the type of team that at this point in the season, with the schedule shrinking, has nothing to lose and therefore can afford to play it fancy free.

WASHINGTON - On Thursday, as they prepped for their Friday meeting with the Washington Wizards, the 76ers promised that they would not overlook the second-worst team in the league, handle their business, and continue their quest for their first Atlantic Division title in more than a decade. That was asking too much. The Sixers played lethargically from start to finish, fell behind by 23 points early in the third quarter, and never threatened to close the gap in a damaging 97-76 loss to the Washington Wizards in front of an announced crowd of 18,066 at the Verizon Center.

IT LOOKS LIKE Orlando will make one last push to acquire a difference-maker that will encourage Dwight Howard to commit his long-term future to the team, according to sources in a report on ESPN/.com. If no newcomer is acquired by tomorrow, sources said, Magic officials plan to spend the final 24 hours before Thursday's 3 p.m. deadline evaluating all of their trade options and then deciding whether to keep Howard beyond the deadline or make the best available trade. As part of this process, one source said, Orlando will continue to seek a "definitive answer" from Howard about his future and hold out hope that he'd at least agree to exercise the option for next season on his current contract to give their marriage at least 1 more year.

OK, SO this is what many of you wanted to see. For the better part of a month, even as the Sixers were building one of the best records in the NBA, a lot of people put qualifiers on their wins, pointing out that they were beating up on the bottom feeders of the league. They said the seven-game gantlet that will end January and lead into February would be the true measuring stick of what this team might be capable of. It started last night against Dwight Howard and the visiting Orlando Magic, one of the highly rated teams with one of the top 10 players.

THE NBA-worst Washington Wizards fired coach Flip Saunders yesterday after a 2-15 start and replaced him with assistant Randy Wittman. "I'm not the miracle-maker here," said Wittman, who was given the top job through the end of the season. "We've got to change our outlook on how we play. " The Wizards fell to 0-7 on the road with a 20-point loss to the the Sixers on Monday. Washington's next game is at home tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats. Saunders was in his third season with the Wizards, going 51-130.

Doug Collins gathered the 76ers together after Monday morning's shootaround and delivered a simple but pointed message: No excuses. Despite injury woes at the center position, Collins didn't want his suddenly vertically challenged team to take part in any negative small talk. Collins said his team would mix and match and more accurately keep fighting. And once again finding the familiar canvas was the Washington Wizards. With centers Spencer Hawes and Nikola Vucevic sidelined by injuries, the Sixers began their seven-game homestand Monday with a 103-83 win over Washington.

THERE'S NO telling how different the Washington Wizards would be if they had drafted Ricky Rubio when they had the chance. The winless team couldn't be any worse than it is now. Rubio and Kevin Love controlled the game in the 93-72 win for the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday, while the Wizards were showered with boos during a 12-point fourth quarter as they dropped to 0-8. "There's really not much to say," Washington coach Flip...

THE ORLANDO Magic looked like a team in need of pillows and a bedtime story when they trudged their way through a lopsided loss to Detroit earlier this week that snapped a four-game winning streak. A day off went a long way for the Magic. Orlando, back at home, recovered its pep in a 103-85 win over the Washington Wizards last night. Dwight Howard had 28 points and 20 rebounds, Ryan Anderson added 23 points and 15 rebounds to help the Magic run past the winless Wizards. Orlando won for the fifth time in six games and had four players in double figures.